Roma therapy

After an acrimonious departure from Leeds under Terry Venables, life in Serie A is sweet for Olivier Dacourt. By Ian Hawkey

Overcoat weather in Rome, and no contest for the city’s most dazzling one. Olivier Dacourt arrives dressed in what looks like an atlas made of felt. It is a parka, Carnaby Street style, with a map of Great Britain embroidered on the left flank and big, bold letters spelling “London” across the back. Dacourt, who left England a year ago, carries his anglophilia like a badge.

He is also wearing combat trousers tucked into long lace-up boots and his heart on his sleeve. We have barely finished the pleasantries — “Nice coat, make it yourself?” — when an impish grin creeps on to Dacourt’s face. He is telling how contented he feels, and adds: “Now I can say thank you to Terry Venables. The bastard.” And Dacourt’s smile turns into a roar of laughter. “You can put that in the paper.”